Police in Xiangcheng City Kidnap, Torture and Extort Money from Dafa Practitioners

Since July 20, 1999, practitioners in Xiangcheng City, Henan Province have consistently appealed in Beijing, and have been persecuted brutally for it.
In October 1999, several practitioners who had appealed in Beijing were severely beaten by Ma Zefeng, Liu Yuqing, and Wei Jianhua, policemen with the Security and Political Department of Xiangcheng City. The practitioners were later sent to Xiangcheng Detention Centre where they were tortured and extorted out of a few thousand dollars. There was a time that Wang Guifeng, a vicious policeman, handcuffed and shackled Zhou Qingmei and three other practitioners who persisted in doing the exercises. They were handcuffed together. Having lost all ability to move, they were dragged to the yard and beaten by the policemen. They were so traumatized by the beating that they were unable to eat for four days. The police un-cuffed them only after some of them vomited blood.

In the detention centre, the police forced practitioners to perform hard labour for long hours, kept them under surveillance and made them recite the "rules of the centre." Practitioners were rarely given any breaks. They did not eat or sleep well. Inmate Zhang Xinmin, following the order of the police, locked up a practitioner who demanded to be unconditionally released from the largest shackle. This practitioner was subsequently made to work in his shackles and was severely beaten. He then started a hunger strike to protest the treatment. There was a time that Jin Xiuqing, one of the guards, dragged practitioners whose limbs were shackled together out of their beds and into the yard. She then asked Li Hongzhong, Wang Guifeng and some other inmates to beat and humiliate these practitioners. They stopped only when it started to rain. Jin transferred practitioners who were on hunger strike to other locations. Practitioners in the detention centre have been unwavering in their faith and refuse to succumb to the evil persecution.

Since July 16, 2001, the guards in the detention centre forced practitioners who refused to denounce Falun Gong to perform "military-drills." More than twenty practitioners were forced to do the "drills" by the policemen in the hottest hours of the day. Those who failed to follow the "drills" were cuffed, made to run for a long time, and were hung onto the basketball support by one hand for four hours. They were also made to squat down on one leg for almost an hour, and were then forced to step on burning cigarette butts. This kind of military drill went on for two months in the summer. Practitioners were tested to the limit. The guards stopped these tortures after some of practitioners launched a hunger strike that lasted for over a month.

In June 2001, policemen Ma Zefeng, Zhou Qingwu, Wei Jianhua, Liu Yuqing, and Tian Liang of the local "610 Office" [a bureau specifically created by the Chinese government to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power over each level of administration in the Party, as well as over the political and judiciary branches] and the mayor, Meng Weizhong, kidnapped practitioners at gunpoint. They ransacked their houses and extorted money from them. Some of the practitioners were forced to leave their homes and families. The officials took practitioners they had succeeded in kidnapping to a makeshift detention centre in a hotel and took turns torturing them. Their objective was to make practitioners give out information. Practitioners were not allowed to eat or sleep for three days. The following was some of the horrible torture that practitioners suffered. The police burned the inner parts of their feet with lit cigarettes, hammered sharp bamboo sticks into their fingers, hung them up with their hands cuffed behind their backs, injected unknown drugs into their bodies, beat them with bamboo sticks and leather belts, threw practitioners who were cuffed at the back to the floor, stripped female practitioners naked, and verbally abused them. The guards threw cold water onto some of the practitioners who fainted, and stuffed their mouths with towels and plastic clothes to stop them from making any noise. Practitioners were so badly battered that bruises were found all over their bodies. Some of them became paralyzed. There were cases when the iron shackles cut deep into the limbs so that they became inflamed. After the police brutalized practitioners, they would secretly send them to the detention centre in the middle of the night.

Police officer Jin Xinzhong extorted money from practitioners by charging exorbitant prices for groceries. The doctor asked for a lot of money when he did "physical examinations". The guards, too, did all they could to extort money.

In June 2002, the Provincial Security Department informed Xiangcheng Detention Centre of their upcoming inspection. In order to present the centre as a first-class detention facility, the guards hastily put together 28 management rules. They knew that practitioners do not tell lies, so to ensure that practitioners would not expose their crimes, they threatened them, "If you are asked about the situation here, you are not allowed to badmouth the centre. If you do, you will be punished. Now you have to memorize all 28 rules." The guard Fu Cunliang shackled practitioners who refused to memorize these rules. On June 15, 2002, five practitioners went on a hunger strike to support those who were shackled. A week later, the guards dragged practitioners on hunger strike out of their cells and force-fed them with salt water. The doctor, Jin Xinqing and Fu Cunliang asked their colleagues to add more salt to the feedings. With the assistance of some migrant workers, they fed the salty water through practitioners' noses. While the guards force-fed practitioners, they beat them and verbally abused them. Wang Guifeng and the doctor said, "If you die because of force feeding, I will certify it as a natural death." On June 16, the Provincial Security Party came to inspect the facilities. The guards took the four practitioners on hunger strike to a custodial centre and kept them there until that night. One of the practitioners was later transferred to the hard labour squad.
Sun Gaoyuan, a practitioner in Xiangcheng City was kidnapped on October 15, 2001 while he was forced to be homeless to avoid being arrested. He was seriously brutalized. Then he was put onto a stretcher and taken into the detention centre. Sun was further tortured because he went on a hunger strike. He lost so much weight that one could hardly recognize him. He demanded to be released but was consistently rejected by the police department. Male practitioners are now subjected to continuous torture. They do not eat or sleep well, have to perform prolonged hard labour every day and are beaten if they fail to complete their tasks.

During the past three years, police and the security officials in Xiangcheng City kidnapped practitioners, ransacked their homes and extorted half a million Yuan [Chinese currency, the monthly salary for an average Chinese urban worker is about 500 Yuan] from them. Many practitioners have become penniless and homeless.
We appeal to kind-hearted people to join us in stopping the persecution as experienced by practitioners in Xiangcheng City.

The criminals who persecute Falun Dafa practitioners in Xiangcheng City, Henan Province are as follows:

The Deputy Secretary of the City: Wang Xiaoran
Mayor: Meng Weizhong
Secretary of the Political and Security Department: Tian Liang
Police in the Political and Security Department: Ma Zefeng, Wei Jianhua
Police in the Security Department: Zhou Qingwu
Local police in the outskirt of the city: Jiang Jinkui, Liu Yuqing, Jin Hai, Lu Hui
Guards in the Xiangcheng Custodial Center: Wu Yong, Wu Zhen, and Luo Xiuying
Military police: Hu Chuanjian
Guards in the Xiangcheng Detention Center: Wang Guifeng, Zhang Qiufeng, Fu Cunliang, Doctor Guan, Li Hongzhong, Deng Tongxue, Jin Xiuqing, Jiang Yourong, Meng Maona, Shen Meizi, Jin Xinzhong, Chen Yudong, Liu Hongqing, Wang Binghua, Deng Tonghe, and Zhao Zhongyi